#sugaruru

"The desert is just all around me... There's so much more of it than the paintings I saw as a kid!" "That's right! Here, why don't you take some of it home with you, too?"

They are mutual admirers!

Beruru is absolutely wow'd by Sugar Riot when she starts spectating the Arcadion and sees a girl her age (and her height, importantly!) making waves in the scene wielding the same rare painting magic skillset that she uses. She's an instant fan, and Johnny is heartbroken when she shows up to the second Cruiserweight match wearing Sugar Riot merch instead of his own stuff.

Sugar Riot is similarly wow'd by Beruru! She was extremely thankful to the Warrior of Light for cracking open the Dome and deposing the authoritarian King of Resolve, and then was completely caught off guard when it turned out he had a daughter that was just like her. And when said daughter turned out to be extremely cute, and also a huge fan of Sugar Riot's cool, rebellious stage persona... she tripled down on it!

Sugar Riot's crush has her dragging them both all across Solution Nine on various escapades. She shows quite a bit of her true self during these (her distaste for authority and her belief that "art must be free!" are very much her own), but she also still leans hard into her stage character since she believes that's the part of her that Beruru likes.

Eventually, the two do come to understand each other more honestly, Sugar Riot confesses her feelings, and the two begin to date more like a normal couple. This whole affair gives Johnny conniptions (and Yan flashbacks), but he does accept it.

Johnny and Tataru put in just as much work this year as any other into making Starlight a success! With the Stalls all set up, the couple went with the rest of their family to take in some Starlight cheer!

This was Sugar Riot's first time seeing snow! She and Beruru dated for a short while in S9, but when it came time for Beruru to return to Eorzea, Sugar Riot threw caution to the wind and caught them right at the train station, asking to come along.

If you were a fan of the mugs the punch was served in and would like to take a few more home, they're available for purchase over at the stall of Tataru Taru's Boutique! They make great gifts!

In the evening, Johnny also had a minor role in a production of the Wandering Minstrel's latest play, Futures Rewritten! (4/5)

"I am the only one who can protect her!"

(The dragoon is the friend I cleared it with! A comrade through many very late nights in PF...)

Sneaking off for a quiet moment to themselves, Tataru tells Johnny her own Starlight list, and Johnny checks off the first gift. They were both very good this year, after all!